Monthly Archives: March 2015

Scott Lavender to perform with Johnny Mathis and the LA Philharmonic

events, faculty news, jazz, keyboard

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BGSU adjunct music professor Scott Lavender, will be performing with Johnny Mathis and the LA Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall on April 4, 2015.  Lavender will be conducting the orchestra and playing piano.

As Music Director for Glenn Yarbrough, Toni Tennille, and, for the last twenty-four years, Johnny Mathis, Scott Lavender has performed with and conducted orchestras throughout the United States, Canada, and Great Britain including the National Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Scott holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance degree from Bowling Green State University (Ohio), pursued graduate studies in jazz at North Texas State, and earned a Masters Degree in Instrumental Conducting from California State University, Northridge. A published composer of works for symphony and school orchestra as well as college jazz band, his big band CD, Prime Time, features many of LA’s most accomplished studio musicians. With New York City-based cellist Roger Shell, his most recent recording is the CD, ‘Round Midnight, featuring songs from jazz and the American songbook. Scott is in his third year as an adjunct asst. professor at BGSU and lives in Findlay.

For information on the event, visit http://www.laphil.com/tickets/johnny-mathis/2015-04-04

 

Chi-Him Chik named winner of the Young Artists Competition sponsored by the Lima Symphony

student news, woodwinds

Last week-end sophomore music performance major Chi-Him Chik was named winner of the 55th Annual Young Artists Competition as sponsored by the Lima Symphony.  Chi-Him  won 1st prize in the College Woodwind and Brass Division and was honored with a $600 prize and possible concert with the Lima Symphony.  He performed “Maha Mantras” by Narong Prangcharoen, a concerto which Chik also played with the BGSU Philharmonia on March 1, 2015.  Chi-Him is an international student from Hong Kong who currently studies with Dr. John Sampen.

Thomas Rosenkranz starts new festival in Italy

faculty news, keyboard

Associate Professor of Piano, Thomas Rosenkranz recently co-founded the Maccagno Piano Days Festival and Competition in Italy. This festival’s inaugural season will take place from July 17th-24th and features recitals, masterclasses, career workshops, and a competition. This year’s honored guests include Jerome Lowenthal from the Juilliard School and Vivian Li from the Xinghai Conservatory in China among others.

For more information visit: http://www.pianodaysfestival.org

BGSU Opera Theatre presents “Dialogues of the Carmelites”

brass-percussion, choral, conducting, dma, education, events, opera, string-news, student news, voice, woodwinds

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BOWLING GREEN, O. – Francis Poulenc’s “Dialogues of the Carmelites” will be presented at 8 p.m. March 27 and 3 p.m. March 29 in the Thomas B. and Kathleen M. Donnell Theatre in the Wolfe Center for the Arts on the BGSU campus.

Poulenc’s powerful 1957 opera, about an order of Carmelite nuns who refuse to renounce their beliefs in the wake of the French Revolution, is presented in collaboration with BGSU’s Department of Theatre and Film. The opera is directed by Nicholas Wuehrmann and features the orchestra conducted by Dr. Emily Freeman Brown. In accordance with Poulenc’s wishes that the opera be performed in the language of its audience, BGSU’s production will be sung in the composer’s approved English translation by Joseph Machlis.

With social unrest rippling through Paris, a timid young woman leaves her aristocratic family to seek refuge at a convent in northern France. She strives to align with her fellow sisters, who soon discover they must either abandon their monastery or face certain execution. Their act of defiance in the face of fear becomes a gripping, emotional story of loyalty, redemption, and sacrifice.

“Poulenc’s soaring score is served beautifully by The BGSU Opera Theater, and the universal themes of war, persecution, fear, faith and love are given a unique treatment by our production which transcends time,” noted Nicholas Wuehrmann, visiting director for the opera. Wuehrmann is an actor/singer/director living in New York City. He performs in musical theater, film and television, Shakespeare, comedy and drama, opera and operetta, and with symphonies.

Tickets for “Dialogues of the Carmelites” are $15 for adults and $5 for students or children when purchased in advance. On the day of the performance, all tickets are $20. To purchase tickets, visit bgsu.edu/Arts or call the Arts Box Office at 419.372.8171.

Faculty Collaboration “explores universe of sound”

faculty news

John Sampen and Mark Bunce

The Sentinel Tribune writes:

“Saxophone virtuoso John Sampen and sound engineer and composer Mark Bunce, both of the Bowling Green State University  College of Musical Arts, have gone the distance in their two decades of performing as a duo.

Their current program is titled “Two Worlds” and that doesn’t capture the reach of their work.

The duo has just released “Electric Saxophone II,” a follow up to their 1997 recording “Electric Saxophone.” Both are released on Bunce’s own AMP label. Bunce served as recording engineer for both recordings

Sampen and Bunce had begun touring several years before that first recording.”

Read the full article here.

Summer Music Institute at BGSU boosts young musicians’ skills

alumni, brass-percussion, choral, composition, conducting, education, events, jazz, keyboard, string-news, voice, woodwinds

BOWLING GREEN, O.—Bowling Green State University’s critically acclaimed Summer Music Institute is open for registration. Presented by the College of Musical Arts, the institute features nine weeklong sessions, ranging from woodwinds to voice, brass and musical theater. Students will work with BGSU music faculty and guest artists who will challenge and inspire in a college setting. Register at BGSU.edu/SMI before April 30 for $40 off the registration fee.

Session one (June 14-19) includes Piano Camp, Double Reed Camp, Recording Camp, String Camp and Musical Theater. During Piano Camp, students receive private lessons, participate in master classes, play piano duos, attend recitals and perform. In Double Reed Camp, students get hands-on experience making reeds, performing in master classes and honing techniques on bassoon and oboe. Students signed up for Recording Camp, for ages 15-18, will experience a professional sound studio from both sides of the glass, performing and coordinating a recording. String students will receive coaching from the BGSU string faculty and special guests. Advanced string students are encouraged to apply for the Honors String Quartet. Members of the Honors String Quartet receive a full scholarship to cover housing, meals and the registration fee. Musical Theater Camp will focus on audition techniques.

Session two (June 21-26) comprises Brass Camp, with ensembles, private lessons, seminars and performances; Super Sax Camp, which explores both classical and improvised jazz music in private lessons, chamber rehearsals, improvisation clinics and concerts; Flute Camp, whose students will receive private lessons, seminars and master classes as well as breathing, sound, articulation and technique lessons; and Vocal Arts Camp, which educates campers in diction, vocal interpretation, audition techniques, stage deportment and other performance skills. Vocal students must be entering grade 10 or higher.

Students may commute to camp or stay on campus during the week. No audition is required. Recording students must be at least 15 years of age, though exceptions can be made.

Check-in times for each camp are the first day of camp on Sunday between 1 and 3 p.m. For more information and to register, visit BGSU.edu/smi or call 419-372-2506.